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>Map >Satellite Lying some 600 meters (2,000 feet) offshore, this large, steep-sided rock is a major seabird breeding ground, surpassed in importance on the northern California coast only by Castle Rock. Like Castle Rock, the common murre, Uria aalge, is the most abundant breeding bird; indeed, this rock is almost an exclusive murre breeding ground, with over 5,000 nesting pairs in most years.
Other breeders include Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus, double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, pelagic cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, and the Western gull, Larus occidentalis.
Integrity: As the rock is inaccessible from the shore and the waters surrounding it too shallow to permit safe boat-landing, the breeding area is relatively protected. It has been proposed that this and other coastal breeding rocks be included in a Federal wildlife refuge.
Use: Research, observational, Should not be visited during breeding season.
Ref: Osborne, Timothy O. 1972. Ecology and Avian Use of the Coastal Rocks of Northern California. M.A. Thesis. Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, 215 pp.
July 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2008 Steven Louis Hartman
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